Chapter 163\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julian glanced at the silver gleam of his watch. \u201cThey\u2019re still finalizing the paperwork. By the time you finish. breakfast, you can take her home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday? I can bring her home today?\u201d Sydney\u2019s eyes lit up, erasing the shadow of last night\u2019s despair. She had expected Julian to handle it eventually, but not this quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled out a chair, set a bowl of soup in front of her, and tapped the table lightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEat first.\u201d His tone offered neither denial nor confirmation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u201d She sat beside him, spoon in hand. The soup was warm, while the omelet was soft and rich with cheese.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eight years apart, under different roofs, had changed them both. Julian cooking breakfast? She never would have imagined it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After eating, Sydney headed straight to the police station to bring Tiffany home. Julian had already arranged everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time Sydney arrived, Sterling Corp.\u2019s chief attorney had just completed the formalities. Within minutes, the police released her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Tiffany emerged, she looked unusually disheveled. Since starting work, she had always been immaculate, every inch the poised lawyer. Now her makeup was streaked, and her glossy waves tangled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s eyes blurred red. She rushed forward, hugging her tightly and murmuring, \u201cTiff! I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, what are you doing? I\u2019m fine.\u201d Tiffany eased her away and laced their hands together with a grin. \u201cLet\u2019s go home. God, I need a shower.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The more Tiffany brushed it off, the heavier Sydney\u2019s guilt grew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the drive back, Tiffany noticed immediately. \u201cIf you feel that guilty, why don\u2019t you transfer me 100,000 or 200,000 dollars?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u201d At the next red light, Sydney reached for her phone, ready to make the transfer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiffany laughed and snatched it away. \u201cBabe, remember the first time we met?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney blinked and eased the accelerator as the light turned green. \u201cI do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen if we\u2019re keeping score, shouldn\u2019t I be the one transferring you 200,000 or 300,000 dollars?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That memory had never left her. Time had only sharpened it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiffany had grown up in Jouleston, in a cramped 320\u2013square\u2013foot house on the outskirts, four people waiting on\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
demolition money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She studied until dawn and burned herself out for scholarships to claw her way into Jouleston\u2019s elite high school, a place swarming with prodigies and the wealthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was pretty, well\u2013developed, but embarrassingly poor. Her faded uniform smelled of detergent, her white canvas shoes had yellowed at the seams, and her bangs were unevenly cut by her own scissors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The boys barely glanced at her, while the girls sharpened their tongues, mocking her relentlessly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The day she met Sydney, Tiffany was in the girls\u2018 bathroom, cornered and hurling curses back at her tormentors. -spoiled rich girls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One grabbed the janitor\u2019s mop bucket, ready to dump filthy water on her. That\u2019s when Sydney stepped out of a locked stall and \u201caccidentally\u201d tripped the girl. The bucket tipped and soaked the ringleader. The group, furious, turned on both of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was not Tiffany\u2019s first beating, nor Sydney\u2019s. But it was the first time someone was beaten with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney smirked faintly at the memory. They shared a quiet smile. \u201cFine. We\u2019ll call it even.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw that lawyer earlier. He was from Sterling Corp.\u201d Tiffany recognized most of the big names in the legal world. Her eyes narrowed. \u201cYou asked Julian for help?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s grip tightened on the wheel, but she forced herself to nod. \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you so nervous?\u201d Tiffany noticed the change immediately, suspicion edging her tone. \u201cYou didn\u2019t do anything weird for me, did you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Bonus Offer\u00a0<\/p>\n
X\u00a0<\/p>\n
GET IT NOW\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 163 Chapter 163\u00a0 Julian glanced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-when-love-is-gone-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22281,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22145\/revisions\/22281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}